Track Listing

1. Declineometer
2. Burn the Honeysuckle
3. Betty
4. Shake the Chandelier
5. New Roommate
6. Hooky Junk
7. Weather Woman
8. Stab
9. Our Patriarch
10. The Education Song
11. Collection's Getting
12. Pill Bug Blues
13. Pick & Roll

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #57701 in Music
• Released on: 2006-01-24
• Number of discs: 1
• Dimensions: .19 pounds

Amazon.com
Time-warped and roots-twisted, the Gourds sound like a good-time band from a parallel universe, one that puts traditional instrumentation--mandolin, accordion, fiddle--behind lyrics that dissolve the distinctions between the elliptical, the enigmatic, and the absurd. "Burn the Honeysuckle" and "Hooky Junk" suggest the Band on psychedelic mushrooms, while "Shake the Chandelier" finds the Austin quintet paying Tex-Mex homage to the late, great Doug Sahm and his Sir Douglas Quintet. For all the twists and loops, the band's organic interplay is rarely less than engaging, from the kick-start propulsion of the album-opening "Declineometer" through the wistful balladry of "Our Patriarch." It may be hard to know what the music means, but it's difficult to resist how it feels. --Don McLeese

Customer Reviews

Gourds Yet to Disappoint
As a long-time Gourds fan, I can tell you with much confidence that the Gourds' 9th release, "Heavy Ornamentals," will fulfill your Gourds fix. In the spectrum of Gourds albums, "Heavy Ornamentals" might come close to or equal "Blood of the Ram," but still doesn't match "Cow, Fish, Fowl or Pig" or their earlier albums.

"Burn the Honeysuckle" is quintessential Kev Russell and the album's best track. "Pill Bug Blues" and "Shake the Chandelier" are also Russell at his best and go down as all-time Gourds greats. Unfortunately, Jimmy Smith's contributions are par at best and the divide between the likeability of Kev and Jimmy's songs is greater on this album than any other. Ever since "Cow, Fish, Fowl or Pig," Jimmy's creativity has seemed to fall off a bit, and few of his songs stand out on the album. "Weather Woman," "Declineometer" and "New Roomate" are Smith's best tracks. An additional complaint is that Max Johnston-who showed his brilliance in "Cow, Fish, Fowl or Pig"-continues his song-writing drought. Max has no contributions on "Heavy Ornamentals."

If you're already hooked on The Gourds, "Heavy Ornamentals" will deliver more of what you're longing for. However, if you're new to The Gourds, I'd recommend an earlier album such as "Stadium Blitzer," "Dem's Good Beeble" or "Cow, Fish, Fowl or Pig."

All killer, no filler.
Each listen of this album, front to back, it is like a road trip through varied terrain, all beautiful, often funny, sometimes sentimental.
The production compliments the songwriting and performances elegantly. The blurbs and farts and honks are all there, non-autotuned, non-beatdetected... raw yet complex- like the lyrical and harmonic composition. The honesty is an audible bonanza to the discerning ear (as well as to the casual listener).
Soon I'll have to move off of the awesome ballad, "Our Patriarch," and find a different song to listen to thirty seven consecutive times. The section on my hard drive that contains the file for "New Roomate" has probably been corrupted from overuse. Or Gourd stank.
This is good music.

My first taste of The Gourds, and I like it...
I saw The Gourds live in Amsterdam in The Paradiso's upstairs hall- all 80 of us. They played from 2-4 on a beautiful Sunday afternoon. Great show...not only did I buy this, their latest cd; I even bought me a tee-shirt. Not a weak track here- and I read here that they recorded this in two weeks while recently on tour. This cd sounds very much as though it were live- and in the case of The Gourds, that's a good thing. Standout tracks are (for me, clearly): Pill Bug Blues, Mister Betty, and the cr?me de la cr?me...Shake the Chandelier. Very solid folk/rock more often on the rockin' side. See these guys live, in a great little venue near you- you won't regret it. ps: And a special 'thank you' to The Paradiso's ticket saleswoman who sold me a ticket to The Hackensaw Boys (from 4-6 that same afternoon) and let me in for free to see The Gourds, since I arrived at 2:30...also, if you don't know it already, Amsterdam is one fine fine city.